Liquid dispenser filter



BEST AVAILABLE COPY April 1939- J. T. DICKSON 2,155,259

. LIQUID DISPENSiIR FILTER Filed April s, 1937 I Inventor:

JamesT. Dickson,

by I a I 76:

His Attorney.

Patented Apr. 18, 1939 UNITED STATES LIQUID DISPENSER FILTER James T.Dickson, Lakewood, Ohio, assignor to General Electric Company, acorporation New York Application April 3, 1937, Serial No. 134,910

1 Claim.

My invention relates to liquid dispensers of the inverted bottle typeand more particularly to a gasket therefor.

It is an object of my invention to provide a gasket for liquiddispensers of the inverted bottle type which embodies an improvedarrangement for filtering air passing therethrough.

Further objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent asthe following description proceeds, and the features of novelty whichcharacterize my invention will be pointed out with particularity in theclaims annexed to and forming a part of this specification.

For a better understanding of my invention, reference may be had to theaccompanying drawing, in which Fig. l is a fragmentary front elevation,partly in section, of a liquid dispenser provided with a gasketembodying my invention; and Fig. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view ofthe gasket shown in Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawing, in Fig. 1, I have shown the-upper portion of aliquid or water dispenser provided with a cabinet including a sheetmetal outer shell l0 having a substantially flat top wall H in which anannular depression I? is formed. The inner periphery of the annulardepression i2 defines an opening l3 in the top wall ll about which thereis disposed an annular flange I4 projecting into the interior of thecabinet. Preferably, the annular flange I4 is formed integral with thetop wall H of the sheet metal outer shell "I and has the shape of aninverted frustum of a cone. A bowl I5 is arranged in the cabinet toreceive the lower end of the annular flange 14, the bowl being supportedin the cabinet by a suitable frame IS. A rubber gasket I1 is arrangedabout the upper edge of the bowl [5 and in engagement with the outersurface of the lower end of the annular flange I4 in order to provide aliquid tight seal therebetween. The annular flange l4 and the bowl l5thus constitute a liquid container in the cabinet arranged below theopening I3 in the top wall H. A liquid outlet plug I8 is secured in anopening in the bottom of the bowl l5 and is connected by conduit l9 to afaucet 20 supported by the front wall of the sheet metal outer shellIll. A suitable heat exchange device may be associated with the conduitIS in order to cool the liquid dispensed at the faucet 20. A liquid orwater storage bottle 2| is supported in an inverted position in theopening I3 with its mouth 2|a projecting into the bowl l5 by an annularflexible rubber gasket 22 positioned in the annular depression l2 formedin the top wall II. The resilient gasket 22 is seated inthe annular depression l2 and against the outer wall of the bottle 2|. Ordinarily, theweight of bottle 2| is suflicient to form a tight seal between bottle 2|and gasket 22 and also between gasket 22 and the annular depression |2thereby substantially sealing the space between the opening |3 and thebottle 2| and preventing the entry of dust or other foreign matter intothe liquid container.

As shown in Fig. 2, the gasket 22 includes a tubular body provided witha plurality of spaced apart apertures 23 for the passage of airtherethrough, and a core 24 of any suitable air filtering material.

In the liquid dispenser illustrated, liquid is stored in the invertedbottle 2| and supplied to the liquid container formed by the annularflange l4 and the bowl I5 arranged therebelow, from which the liquid isdrawn off at the faucet 20 for use as desired. As the liquid is drawnoff at the faucet 20 the level of the liquid standing in the liquidcontainer falls until the mouth 2la of the bottle 2| is only slightlysubmerged. Air in the upper portion of the liquid container then entersthe mouth 2|a of the bottle 2| and replaces a quantity of the liquidtherein, which quantity of liquid is supplied to the liquid container tobe dispensed at the faucet 20. The air which enters the bottle from theupper portion of the container is replaced by air passing through theapertures 23 and the core 24 of air filtering material in the gasket 22from the exterior of the cabinet. The gasket 22 being tightly sealedbetween the annular depression l2 and the bottle 2| positively preventsdust and other foreign matter from entering the liquid container throughthe opening IS in the top wall H, except through the filtering material24, and insures that the replacement air drawn into the liquid containerfrom the exterior of the cabinet is free of impurities. Obviously theopenings 23 need not be directly opposite each other as in the sectionillustrated in Fig. 2 but may be staggered as are the other two openings23 shown in Fig. 2. This staggered arrangement of the openings makespossible a considerably longer filter path for the air passing throughthe gasket.

While I have shown a particular embodiment of my invention, I do notdesire my invention to be limited to the particular construction shownand "described, and I intend in the appended claim to cover allmodifications within the spirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is:

A gasket comprising a resilient tubular body provided with a pluralityof apertures spaced apart in staggered relation to provide air pathsthrough said gasket of greater length than the diameter of said tubularbody, and a core of air filtering material arranged in said tubularbody.

JAMES T. DICKSON.

